


Start Your Engines

by Knight_of_Cookies



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Awkward Ben, Ben Solo is a hidden nerd who draws, Ben can be such an idiot sometimes, F/M, Lovesick Ben can’t express himself well no matter what universe he’s in, Mechanic!Rey, Modern AU, Racer!kylo, Snarky fluff, drag racing, feisty snarky Rey, so can Rey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 16:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13955724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knight_of_Cookies/pseuds/Knight_of_Cookies
Summary: Belated Birthday gift for Guibass.Big time drag racing star, Ben Solo has a crush on a mechanic in his pit crew. He thinks she had no idea. But Rey knows something he doesn't.





	Start Your Engines

**Author's Note:**

  * For [guibass](https://archiveofourown.org/users/guibass/gifts).



Rey stood hunched over an engine checking its cylinders. It was the night before elimination rounds and Han wanted her to check something.

“I may be too old to hear the ping at launch, but you might,”old Solo said with a wry smile. He had been worried about possible engine detonation. The dragster’s driver, Ben swore he had heard nothing when the engine started up. His father thought otherwise. 

Naturally Rey had gotten caught up in one of their fights--again. 

Han and Rey waited till the rest of the crew had gone back to the hotel for the night to test it one more time. That way there was less chance of Ben harassing them. Rey didn’t hear any pings, and Han let it go (for now). He still insisted she check it all over again, one more time. It was a big day tomorrow after all. And so she did, without complaint. 

Well, the Engine was fine at least. She moved onto the clutch, checking the pressure plate and flywheel. 

Rey was only on this crew because old Solo saw promise in her mechanical skills. When they first 'met' Han said he could have sent her to jail for stealing his precious old hot rod, “The Falcon." (To be fair it had been ‘stolen’ by four other people before she got it. Rey was just the only one who took care of it)

"The Falcon" was apparently famous in the old days of drag racing. Rey later found out the old man had done enough illegal things that she knew he would never go to the police for that particular car. 

Now she was “a part of the team.” Rey felt more like a misfiring cylinder honestly. Everyone else on her crew was this shiny new part and she was just some salvaged old thing from a junkyard. She barely functioned, and they all knew she wasn’t meant to be here. 

Though she was thankful for her work. She just never quite got why people liked watching two dragsters cover a quarter mile dragstrip in seconds, while going hundreds of miles per hour. She preferred working with spark plugs and ratchets or listening to the way engines talked to her. It was so much easier than listening to people. Cars were--uncomplicated even in the world of drag racing. 

Check on the clutch. She moved onto checking for cracks in the chassis. She found a few spots spotted over with bondo (the supposed fix-all for repairs)Rey rolled her eyes. That was definitely Ben’s work. She sighed and got to work actually fixing the wing where it had been applied. Ben was no greasemonkey and barely a gearhead. He was a good driver. (and by good meaning one of the best in the country, a fact Rey often tried to forget) 

He never smiled, sneered maybe at best. At least whenever he knew someone was looking. Rey had often caught him holed up in a corner of a trailer, book in hand--smiling. Until he saw her anyway. 

They were both seekers of solitude. And in the small confined world of trailers and hotel rooms that often caused Rey problems. Like a crazy gearhead who never let anyone else wrench their car, Ben was extremely protective of his solitude when he could get it. And if that meant calling her a--what was it again-- “some little junkyard urchin” to get her to stay away, he would do it. 

She moved onto the supercharger next. 

Rey couldn’t hate Ben for it. (And oh,she tried). But Ben Solo was like her. They both were good at what they did but--didn’t belong here. They were both victims of fate and circumstance in this fast paced world. At least she could hide away in the pit. Rey wouldn’t want to trade places with him in a million lifetimes: The fame he hated, the screaming fans he ran from, the public events he had to duck out of--all the time. It exhausted her just watching. 

But sympathy was not enough for her to like him either. He was still an asshat at the end of day.

Ah, speak of the devil. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Ben spit out through gritted teeth, storming towards her.

Rey threw her hands up in surrender, too tired to be dealing with this. He reminded Rey of a blown engine--supercharged enough to do whatever he needed and/or just failing at basic human decency. 

“Only what the crew chief told me to do. I’m almost done anyway, Kylo” She spat out the nickname he had gotten from fans and always got a kick out of calling him.

Rey watched his fingers curl into fists and she had to stop the urge to grab a wrench and chuck it towards his perfectly groomed hair. She wondered if the hair would even dent with whatever product he piled into it. Even when taking off his helmet after a run, it was still gorgeous. It was unfair, really. Rey couldn’t even get her hair to behave in the single messy bun she wrangled it up into every morning. And by night, numerous strands of hair escaped it and hung down half in her face no matter what she did.

She moved to tuck a piece of dangling hair behind her ear. Ben was staring--again. She noticed he had his bulky messenger bag with him, likely holding whatever book he was currently reading, sketchbook and a blanket to camp out if needed. Oh man, she was really messing up his plans for the night. 

But his fists had unclenched and he was staring. Rey put her hands down and slowly backed away as Ben stomped forward towards his dragster--and her. 

“What did you do to it?” He demanded, trying so desperately to sound more intimidating than just annoyed at her presence. As if he really came all the way back here just to check on his precious “Silencer.” Well fine, if he was gonna be a cranky child, she would respond in kind. She was here first and was actually doing work! 

“ Fixing the crap bondo repairs you made on the wings, Kylo,” she said in creaky voice, unable to hide her exhaustion but glad to see his eye twitch hearing the terrible nickname. 

“How dare you accuse-” he started,

“You’re the only one who does that! Now, if you want the space, just say so. Stop making crappy excuses and generally being a dick,” she interrupted. That was enough to shut him up for a moment. He chewed his lip staring at the ground. She grinned. Somehow, Rey was the only one who could call him out on his bullshit correctly. Yet again, she was the only one who probably understood why he was pulling it to begin with. 

Ben walked over to the wing in question and inspected it, very much avoiding looking at her. It seemed to be the only two modes he had around Rey: Avoidance or unabashed staring. The staring used to make her uncomfortable. Not anymore. 

Rey eyed the edge of the sketchbook sticking out of his hastily packed bag. She wondered if he had drawn any more pictures of her since they last time she was able to take a peek at it. 

Oh yeah, big time race star, Ben Solo had a crush on her, enough to sketch her likeness from memory. And race star Ben Solo was secretly a nerd--who drew. She found she actually liked that bit of him, whenever she could catch a fleeting glimpse of it (as rare as that was--and it certainly wasn't enough for her to like the rest of him).

Of course, Ben would never admit it to her. Like he could hide anything from her,They shared a trailer half the time for God's sake. Hard to hide anything in one of those. Within weeks of getting settled in, Rey had spotted the small, black book in Ben's hands as he hid away in the pits between runs. And naturally she had to take a peek. It had been a well laid plot overall, making an excuse, claiming there was an emergency, to get him out of the trailer in a hurry when she knew he would be drawing. 

Rey had giggled at his elegant curving handwriting. Like of all the people to still write in cursive--especially compared to her own chicken scratch. She could barely read it though. the sketches had been a surprise. They were gorgeous as his writing: he drew other dragsters and scenes from the races and pits--that much she expected. He drew the other members of the team(except Poe, their other main racer, naturally). She never expected to see a drawing of herself, one that made her seem almost ethereal. And he had likely done it all from memory. She had refused to be impressed, at first. 

Rey kept finding ways to peek in at the small hidden book over the last few months. Ben had been--staring at her more often. She started arranging herself whenever he did so. If he was gonna draw her she might as well have fun with it. (That way she could see he drew of it later. And she found she was never disappointed). It was her secret, their secret really. He must of known by now. Or did he? 

Rey was sure if she said something the careful balance would be ruined. But here they were, alone. Fuck it.

“You know, I can actually sit for you, if you wanna draw me," she said with a warm smile. And big time racing star, Ben Solo froze up, nearly choking. He chewed his lip and stared at her. 

"you know?"

"I know."

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo- I know almost nothing about drag racing besides a day of intensive research for this story.( Like--has 4 pages of notes with reference links intensive. For those who may actually have interest in the sport, I hope this wasn’t terribly cringy to read. (and if so, please tell me) 
> 
> And Guibass, hope this was a fun ride. Asshat Kylo and snarky Rey are not my usual, but very fun to write.


End file.
